238 EXPERIMENTS WITH DROWNED ANTS. 



The next morninof I could only see two, but none 

 were being attacked, and there were no dead ones. It 

 is probable that the paint had been cleaned off the 

 others, but it was not easy to find them all among so 

 many. At any rate, none were being attacked, nor had 

 any been killed. 



These observations, therefore, quite confirm those 

 previously made, and seem to show that if pupae are 

 taken from a nest, kept till they become perfect insects, 

 and then replaced in the nest, they are recognized as 

 friends. 



As regards the mode of recognition, Mr. McCook 

 considers that it is by scent, and states that if ants are 

 more or less soaked in water, they are no longer recog- 

 nized by their friends, but are attacked. He mentions 

 a case in which an ant fell accidentally into some 

 water: *• She remained in the liquid several moments, 

 and crept out of it. Immediately she was seized in a 

 hostile manner, first by one, and then another, then by 

 a third, the two antenna3 and one leg were thus held. ' 

 A fourth one assaulted the middle thorax and petiole. 

 The poor little bather was thus dragged helplessly to 

 and fro for a long time, and was evidently ordained to 

 death. Presently I took up the struggling heap. Two 

 of the assailants kept their hold, one finally dropped ; 

 the other I could not tear loose, and so put the pair 

 back upon the tree, leaving the doomed immersionist 

 to her hard fate." 



His attention having been called to this, he noticed 

 several other cases, always with the same result. I 

 have not myself been able to repeat the observation 

 with the same species, but with two at least of our 

 native ants the results were exactly reversed. In one 



